Experiences with Tesla Energy at the beginning of Service in your state

[jrod5677]

Thanks for the update. I was hoping for installation this year but Georgia Power has not completed their review yet. Tomorrow makes 4 weeks from the application by Tesla. When I combine that with your information it's not looking good for this year.

Thanks for starting this thread, n.one.one! I'm in Wilmington, North Carolina. My wife and I are hoping to install Tesla's Solar Roof on a new construction home, but it's been very challenging to get any information from Tesla (other than what's on their website) or make any progress. If you don't mind, I had a few questions about your experience thus far:

• After you placed your order, did a Tesla Solar representative contact you? If so, how long was the wait after you submitted your order?
• It sounds like you're in the Atlanta Metro Area. Is it safe to assume when you placed your order through Solar Roof | Tesla, your address was within their standard service area? In other words, your order did not include a line item for "Extended Territory Installation"?
• Are you replacing an existing roof or is it new construction?

 

[n.one.one]

Thanks for starting this thread, n.one.one! I'm in Wilmington, North Carolina. My wife and I are hoping to install Tesla's Solar Roof on a new construction home, but it's been very challenging to get any information from Tesla (other than what's on their website) or make any progress. If you don't mind, I had a few questions about your experience thus far:

• After you placed your order, did a Tesla Solar representative contact you? If so, how long was the wait after you submitted your order?
• It sounds like you're in the Atlanta Metro Area. Is it safe to assume when you placed your order through Solar Roof | Tesla, your address was within their standard service area? In other words, your order did not include a line item for "Extended Territory Installation"?
• Are you replacing an existing roof or is it new construction?

First let me clarify that I'm getting panels and not a roof.

I ordered in February 21 and at the time they put your rep's name and contact info on your account page. I was in contact with the first rep every week or two and she was very helpful. Then a different rep was assigned to my account and she was just as helpful. She has since moved on and they no longer post the name of the rep. Now you just call a number, enter your zip code and any available rep tries to help you.

Yes, I'm in metro Atlanta and at the time they had just started taking orders for this area but had not started doing installations yet. I haven't seen any evidence that they have started as of now.

I haven't reached out to Tesla recently because Georgia Power still hasn't reviewed the application that Tesla submitted October 12th (Georgia Power Company - Application for Behind-the-Meter Generation).

 

[bruce4000]

My son got solar panels and a power wall installed in Massachusetts in early November. This was about 2 months after his first inquiry which was faster than I expected. They asked for pictures of his roof and circuit panel. About 4 days before install date, got a confirmation email. Took about 6 hours for a team to install and was operational when they left. He is still waiting for a new utility meter but is able to export to grid if battery full. A week later a tech showed up to double check the work and ok. Only thing is he was thinking of converting water heater and adding lvl1 ev charging but I don’t think he communicated this to Tesla and they don’t spend time holding your hand. He’s getting about 5kW on a 8 kW system on sunny days in November and can easily fill the battery and run his house through the next day. Overall, pleasantly surprised/ happy.

 

[n.one.one]

Georgia Panel/Powerwall Installation
My panels + Powerwalls order in Georgia has been in process since February 2021. The system has been designed, and Tesla has pulled a permit from the city I live in. They have applied to my utility (Georgia Power) but have not gotten approval yet, nor have they scheduled an installation. My account page has this note: "We're experiencing delays due to supply chain shortages. Installation timelines may vary."

How are others doing in this process in Georgia? Have any Tesla installations been scheduled, started, or completed?

 

[bizybone]

Had no movement on my project from before the end of the year until today. I received an email to approve my equipment location. Called in and spoke to an advisor, they said my interconnect application was just sent over to Cobb EMC last week for approval. Once Tesla gets approval, they will move me over to scheduling.

Telsa gave me a local number that i can text if i have any questions about the project. 678-403-6429

 

[bizybone]

Had no movement on my project from before the end of the year until today. I received an email to approve my equipment location. Called in and spoke to an advisor, they said my interconnect application was just sent over to Cobb EMC last week for approval. Once Tesla gets approval, they will move me over to scheduling.

Telsa gave me a local number that i can text if i have any questions about the project. 678-403-6429

So they have decided to add more panels to my system, bringing it up from an 8.5 kW to 8.8kW, still with 2PW. Going to have wait for permitting again.

 

[bizybone]

Per scheduling dept, Installs in the Atlanta Georgia area will hopefully begin in late Q3 '22 - Q1 '23. If anyone else wants to call, their number is 877-525-7652, option 5.

 

[bizybone]

Just received this email.

It’s official—we’re excited to begin solar panel and Powerwall installations in your area.



In early December we will begin scheduling end of year installations. To secure the earliest date for your project, please complete all open items in your Tesla Account :

• Review your order details
• Confirm your equipment details
• Complete any outstanding items

If you made other arrangements or no longer wish to proceed, you can cancel your project in your Tesla Account.



Best Regards,

The Tesla Team

 

[bizybone]

I've finally have a scheduled install date. 1/16

 

[n.one.one]

I've finally have a scheduled install date. 1/16

You may be the first TMC member to get a Tesla installation in Georgia. Good luck!
Please consider letting us know how it went and perhaps even post some photos.

 

[bizybone]

Looks like this going to be a multi-day project, day 1 is complete. They spent a total of 7 hours here (arrived at 8am.) There was a crew of 8 including 1 crew lead they flew in from New Jersey. 1 power wall installer, 1 person dedicated to both solar and pw, and the rest were solar panel installers.

Completed:
- 8.8kW Panel installation (conduit installed on top of the roof, not enough room in my attic to route through there. I requested for them to paint match the conduit on the roof. They'll do so when they come back.
-Powerwall installation (PW+ and PW2), panels, inverter, and PWs have been wired and tested.

Incomplete:
Safety switch
Load Panel - (will require the installer to cut sheetrock to move leads from the inside to the outside. They said I am responsible for repair. I thought the contract says otherwise, but if the hole is small enough, I'll take care of the repair myself.
Solar Meter - (Apparently, GA utilities are different from other states where they won't allow the installers to pull out the meter. So Tesla is to coordinate with my power company (Cobb EMC) to have a tech meet them out here to attach the main meter to the solar meter. I've reached out to the Energy Advisor with CobbEMC as well, I don't want this to drag on any longer.

Here are a couple of pics.

 

[aristobrat]

1 crew lead they flew in from New Jersey.

His name isn’t Marquis is it? My recent install in VA was done by a traveling crew from NJ and the team lead mentioned he flies around. They did an excellent job, much cleaner with all of the exterior electrical wiring vs how one of the newer VA crews did a neighbors house.

 

[bizybone]

His name isn’t Marquis is it? My recent install in VA was done by a traveling crew from NJ and the team lead mentioned he flies around. They did an excellent job, much cleaner with all of the exterior electrical wiring vs how one of the newer VA crews did a neighbors house.

No, it's not Marquis but his name escapes me right now. Everything is looking good so far.

Tesla is out here now finishing up the install, fingers crossed they can complete it today.
My util company came out this morning around 8 to pull the meter and to drop service (they snipped the power lines) and Tesla showed up at 9.
The util company will inspect the setup prior to reconnecting me for the grid and Telsa will wait around for them to do so.

Tech said he had to wait 6 hours or so on another job for them util to show up.

 

[bizybone]

2 Tesla Electricians just left a few minutes ago, Christopher and Santiago from Tampa, FL did an excellent job. I will take a picture of their work tomorrow. They were here at 9am and were done by 12pm, unfortunately, we had to wait 5 hours for my utility to come back out to hook me back up to the grid. After I had power again the electricians had about another hour of work to commission the PWs. They will come back another day to commission the panels which they couldn't do because it was overcast.

I cannot see my solar products in the app so I am currently waiting on support to assist me.

 

[bizybone]

Panels have been commissioned and I believe I am ready for inspection now. The system is currently producing 3.8kW and the house is consuming 0.6kW. I am having to log in to the powerwall to monitor this as I still don't have that access to my app. Support tells me the techs did not register the PWs. When I go to register the PW myself it tells me that the PWs have already been registered under another account (I assume the tech while they were commissioning it) and to contact support.

I guess I will give support another try shortly.

Edit: Gave support chat another try, got a different tech, and explained the situation with the app. Gave them my serial numbers (PWs + Gateway). They are going to get me registered by end of day.

 

[bizybone]

Sorry, couldn't edit twice but here the picture of the final setup.

 

[bizybone]

Just a quick update, I did get access to my system on the tesla app back on 1/20. On 1/25 Tesla informed me that they would need to resubmit the permit. I had to resubmit an interconnect application with my utility, so still waiting on an update about that. So no inspection nor PTO. Since the installation on 1/18 my system has produced 189kWh and my system home as used a 413kWh. A large chunk of that (~70%) comes from me charging my Model Y during super off-peak hours, which is free for the first 400kWh of the pay period between 12a-6a, and the $0.045/kWh if I exceed 400kwh in that pay period. Feels like it has been more cloudy than it has been sunny. In that time I think my batteries reached 90%ish once. Feel like I will do just fine in the spring and summer.

 

[bizybone]

No PTO yet because my Utility did not approve the backup switch. Utility did prematurely install a net meter. Tesla working with utility on approval.
I'm producing almost 40kWh per day now with tad bit of shading in the evening time. Batteries fill up by noon and excess solar goes into topping off the Model Y, the rest of my production gets wasted since I cannot export yet.

 

[bizybone]

I received PTO today. So, a little over 2 months after install.